Khadung La Pass (Ladakh, India)

Khadung La Pass (Ladakh, India) ... maintained by Guinness World Records, 5,682 m high and the world's highest motorable mountain pass. However, according to many completely separate and verifiable alternative sources, its height is or is closer to 5,359 m (17,582 feet), at 34°16′44″N, 77°36′17″E, which is more than 300 m lower, and implies that there are higher motorable mountain passes in Tibet. The pass on the Ladakh range lies North of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra Valleys. The Siachen Glacier lies partway up the latter valley. Built in 1976, it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen many automobile, motorbike and mountain biking expeditions. Maintained by the Indian Army's Indian_Army#Corps, the pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry essential supplies to the Siachen. Khardung La is historically important as it lies on the major caravan route from Leh to Kashgar in Chinese Central Asia. About 10,000 horses and camels used to take the route annually, and a small population of Bactrian camels can still be seen in the area north of the pass, mute witnesses to history. During World War Two there was a futile attempt to transfer war material to China through this route.